LOSING PATIENCE
The fans in Toronto appear to be losing patience with Hedo Turkoglu. At one point in the second quarter, as Turkoglu approached the line for a couple of free throws, a lone voice from the sellout crowd could be heard expressing his opinion of Bryan Colangelo's big off-season acquisition. After missing both freebies, that lone voice had plenty of company as a groundswell of boos began.
SHEED HEARS ALL
And while Turkoglu didn't appear to hear or acknowledge his detractors, Rasheed Wallace had no problem doing just that. Wallace was lining up for a teammates' free throw when one leather lung called out to him: "You suck, Wallace." Not missing a beat Wallace saluted his non-fan and thanked him for his opinion.
WORKING THE REFS
If there is a team better at working officials in the league than the Boston Celtics, these eyes haven't seen them. From tipoff to every stoppage in play, the Celtics are like a conga line waiting their turn to have a go at the officials.

The things I can't do -- I don't know if you followed me much (in Orlando) and how I played there -- I just can't do the things without the ball. Even today, I had nine assists, but the things about how I play are as much about how much I get the ball and how I get myself going and my teammates too."
In short, Turkoglu is not playing with the ball in his hands as much as he was accustomed to in Orlando and he's having a hard time making an impact in games without it.
"It's hard for me to tell you right now that I can run down the side and just expect to be a spot-up guy after the past three years being the point guard and leading the team and making those decisions," Turkoglu said. "Still, I will try to be out there and try to do my best and hopefully things will turn around."
Chris Bosh seemed surprised to learn his starting small forward was feeling so out of sorts.
"I think if he feels that way then it's important we get him involved a little more," Bosh said.

Every NBA team has its own routine as it comes out to take the floor.
And every team’s bench players have their own unique welcomes for the starters as they enter the court.
Glen (Big Baby) Davis’ welcome involves shadow-boxing with the likes of Boston Celtics starters Kendrick Perkins or, in the case of Rasheed Wallace, shadow kick-boxing.
That was an appropriate start for yesterday’s game at the Air Canada Centre as the Celtics came out swinging and had the Raptors on the canvas down 10-0 after just 1:41.
A Jay Triano timeout to hit the reset button appeared to do the trick but some heavy damage already had been done.
It wasn’t the end of the game — the Raptors did counter-punch, getting that deficit down to two at one point and three on two other occasions — but they never got back on even terms in an eventual 114-107 loss.

"After that little 10-0 run (in the opening two minutes), for the most part we had a bunch of instances where we gave them a lot of contested shots and they basically just knocked them down," said Chris Bosh, who finished the day with 31 points – including 13 free throws – to go along with 13 rebounds.
"When that happens, sometimes you can't let that discourage you. If they knock down a tough shot with a hand in the face, you can live with it. If they make it, it is what it is," Bosh added.
And what it usually was was Wallace, the veteran, defence-stretching big man.
Starting in place of the injured Kevin Garnett, he had five three-pointers on seven attempts (this from a guy shooting 29 per cent from beyond the arc going into the game) and finished with 29 points.
"He extends the defence and made some threes," Toronto coach Jay Triano said of Wallace. "He hasn't been shooting it well all year (but) he's got the ability to do it.
"Our bigs aren't used to trying to help on drives and trying to get out. We got caught a couple of times trying to over-help a little bit."
It's as if the Celtics, owners of the best record in the East at 26-9, looked around, saw the matchups and anointed Wallace as the Raptor killer this time around.
"You never know with a team like that, everybody is a wild card," said Bosh. "Rasheed, Ray Allen, Kevin (Garnett) when he's playing, Paul (Pierce). They can all score the basketball and have all been `the man' on their teams in the past. So it doesn't surprise me. He made some tough shots but that's what he does."
The Raptors made some shots, just not enough.

I was talking to someone after the game whose opinion on NBA refereeing I respect more than anyone in the city; someone with no bias and a wealth of experience.
The verdict: Not a very good game from the guys with the whistles, for sure.
Yes, you all think – and I concurred on most occasions -- that the refs were too inconsistent, too many calls went Boston’s way and it was kind of interesting to have that point validated by someone who knows.
The may object of ire was Eric Lewis, who made a few odd calls, including a goofy on Chris Bosh for post defence on Kendrick Perkins that I’m still shaking my head about.
It will be of no consolation but the word is that Lewis is generally considered a pretty good ref who, obviously, had a very bad day.
Trouble is, it took away from what was a pretty good game, all in all.
And this will be of no consolation, either, but the NBA “grader” who was in the arena would have filed his report to the league last night and I’m sure Mr. Lewis would have come in for some criticism.
It won’t ease the angst but it’s all that can be done.
Overall, I’ve noticed a lot of slippage by the refs this year, lots of odd calls, wild bouts of inconsistency and they need to get that cleaned up.
I maintain that NBA refs have the hardest officiating job in sports, and I also maintain they are not as bad as you think.

"It's hard for me to tell you right now [what's wrong]," said Turkoglu, who finished with nine assists but scored just five points on two-of-nine shooting. In Friday's win over Philadelphia, he scored just nine points on seven shots and had no assists.
At 6-foot-10, it's his ability to handle the ball in the open floor and make plays off the dribble for his teammates that made him a highly sought free agent this past summer after helping the Orlando Magic to an NBA final appearance last summer.
But in a lineup that often features two point guards in Jarrett Jack and Jose Calderon as well as Chris Bosh, who quite rightly gets a high percentage of touches, and Andrea Bargnani, who takes a high volume of shots, Turkoglu is still trying to find his feet as the Raptors (19-19) approach the halfway point of the season.
"I just run on the side and expect them to just pass it to me," he said. "For the past three years, I've been a point guard too, leading the team and making decisions. Still I'm going to go out there and try to do my best and hopefully it will turn around."

I'm unconvinced that ‘Hedo Turkoglu' really is how you say ‘Vernon Wells' in Turkish, although it bothers me that after being a no-show in yesterday's loss to the Boston Celtics , Turkoglu did one of those ‘wither me' things suggesting there aren't enough balls to go around – or, too many point guards and wannabe point guards, himself included.
The bigger concern out of that 114-107 loss is that Chris Bosh had one field goal attempt in the fourth quarter after scoring 29 points through three.
Raptors head coach Jay Triano took some of the blame for not watching Bosh's minutes more closely, which Bosh said: “We were going with what was working. They really started paying attention to me a lot more. I didn't want to force anything, because against a team like that, it's what gets you in trouble.”

On New Year's Day, the Toronto Raptors were looking forward to a trip to Boston for a game the following evening. Point guard Jarrett Jack was blunt about how much a game against the Celtics mattered.
"We've got to go out there and step up to the challenge," Jack said. "I think the last couple games we haven't done that. We've backed down. We've allowed them to hit us in the mouth first."
They promptly went out and lost to a Celtics team playing without three of its four most important players.
Faced with an opportunity to make amends against a healthier Celtics squad yesterday, would they be any more prepared?
Nope. Instead, Boston made the Raptors a punching bag yet again on the way to a 114-107 win, the Celtics' 10th win in 11 games against Toronto over the last three years

The Pacers, losers of 11 of their past 13 games, are going through a transition again with forwards Danny Granger (foot) and Troy Murphy (ankle), who both missed an extended amount of time with injuries, back in the lineup.
The Pacers host the Toronto Raptors tonight at Conseco Fieldhouse.
"It's certainly not easy, but that's the way it works," said swingman Mike Dunleavy, who has missed a lot of time the past two seasons. "It seems like it's been that way the past few years here, working guys in and out of the lineup. We have no choice but to try to adjust to it as fast as we can."